COLLEGE FOOTBALL : REGIONAL ROUNDUP : No. 22 Texas A&M; Gets Past SMU in End, 20-17

No. 22 Texas A&M;, coming off back-to-back losses to Colorado and Texas Tech, needed Albert Connell’s touchdown reception with eight seconds left for a 20-17 Southwest Conference victory over heavy underdog Southern Methodist on Saturday at College Station, Texas.

SMU, 1-5 overall and 0-2 in the SWC, led most of the game and took a 17-13 lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass from Derek Canine to a diving Kevin Thornal with 56 seconds to play. But the Aggies (3-2, 1-1), who played without star running back Leeland McElroy, answered with a five-play, 70-yard scoring drive to pull it out.

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Houston (0-6, 0-2) now has the longest losing streak in Division I-A at 12 as Jarvis Van Dyke tied a school record with four field goals and Jeff Watson threw an 85-yard touchdown pass for Baylor (4-1, 2-0), which recorded a 47-7 SWC victory over the Cougars (0-6, 0-2) at Houston. . . . Byron Hanspard rushed for four touchdowns and 180 yards as No. 25 Texas Tech (3-2) rolled to a 63-25 nonconference victory over Arkansas Sate (2-5) at Lubbock, Tex. . . . Max Knake threw two touchdown passes as Texas Christian (4-1, 2-0) rallied for a 33-28 SWC victory over Rice (1-3-1, 0-2) at Houston.

EAST

Temple ended the longest losing streak in Division I-A at 13 with a 29-27 Big East victory over Pittsburgh (2-5, 0-3) at Philadelphia. Ramond Lee ran for three touchdowns for the Owls (1-5, 1-2), including the go-ahead scored with 3:59 left to play. It also was Temple’s first victory in the Big East after 27 consecutive conference losses. . . . Miami, led by Ryan Clements’ three first-half touchdown passes, shook off the frustration of its worst start in 20 years to record a 56-21 Big East victory over visiting Rutgers (1-4, 0-2). The Hurricanes (2-3, 1-1) scored a school record-tying 35 points in the second quarter in a game played before an Orange Bowl crowd of 19,747, smallest in 13 years, and in a drenching downpour.

Chad Johnston passed for two first-half touchdowns and West Virginia built a 24-0 lead on its way to a 31-19 Big East victory over Boston College at Boston. The Mountaineers (3-3, 2-0) have beaten the Eagles (2-4, 2-1) nine times in a row in Boston. . . . Six Syracuse players scored and the Orangemen (5-1) intercepted four passes in a 52-24 nonconference victory over Eastern Michigan (4-2) at Syracuse. . . . Quarterback Brock Harvey led Princeton (5-0) offensively and the Tigers’ defense had seven takeaways in a 41-0 victory over Lafayette (1-4-1) in a nonconference game at Princeton, N.J. . . . Bob Aylsworth threw for five touchdowns as Lehigh (4-2) recorded a 37-35 nonconference victory over Columbia (2-2-1) at New York. . . . Brion Stapp, who was 22 for 39 for 249 yards, ran for one touchdown and passed for two as Holy Cross (1-5) won, 27-22, over Harvard (1-4) at Boston. . . . Jason McCullough passed for 185 yards and three touchdowns in the second half, leading Brown (3-2) to a 21-6 victory over Colgate (0-6) at Providence, R.I. . . . Dartmouth (3-2, 1-2) recorded a 22-7 Ivy League victory over Yale (2-3, 1-1) at New Haven, Conn. . . . Bucknell (3-3) recorded a 10-7 nonconference victory over Cornell (3-2) at Ithaca, N.Y.

SOUTH

Jim Druckenmiller passed for two touchdowns as Virginia Tech (4-2) won, 77-27, against Akron (1-5) at Blacksburg, Va. . . . Matt Byrne threw for four touchdowns and Derek Fitzgerald rushed for 219 yards as William & Mary (5-2) recorded a 48-34 nonconference victory over Penn (3-2) at Williamsburg, Va. . . . Joe Borich passed for 228 yards for Memphis (2-4) in a 23-8 victory over Tulane (2-4) at New Orleans.

MIDWEST

Eric Richards kicked a game-winning field goal for the second consecutive week, a 20-yarder with two seconds left that gave Cincinnati (3-4) a 16-13 victory over Southern Mississippi (4-3) at Cincinnati.

WEST

Abu Wilson rushed for 203 yards and one touchdown as Utah State (1-5, 1-1) recorded a 42-7 Big West victory over Northern Illinois (3-4, 3-1) at Logan, Utah. . . . Mike Maxwell tied a school record by throwing for seven touchdowns to lead Nevada (4-2) to a 59-35 nonconference victory over Northeast Louisiana (2-5) at Reno. . . . Carl Dean passed for 275 yards and three touchdowns to lead San Jose State (2-4, 1-1) to a 52-14 thrashing of Nevada Las Vegas (1-6, 1-2) in a Big West game at San Jose. . . . Kenyon Cotton and Marcus Prier combined for 364 rushing yards and four touchdowns in carrying Southwestern Louisiana (3-3, 2-2) to a 43-26 Big West victory over New Mexico State (2-5, 1-1) at Lafayette, La. . . . Joe Abdullah scored from 15 yards out with 38 seconds left to give Pacific (2-4, 1-0) a 47-41 Big West victory over Louisiana Tech (4-3, 1-2) at Stockton.